Their mother let out a laugh and took note. The Scott children didn’t see color. They saw numbers. In essence, that part of their father’s legacy at UNC is easy. Two-time recipient of All-American honors. Three-time All ACC. Two consecutive Final Four berths. But as Shaun got older, the rest of the picture grew complicated.
“I’d listen to the stories,” he said. “And I’d learn something new about what he went through.”
The one where coach Dean Smith took his father and grandmother to a restaurant on a recruiting visit, which refused to serve his family because they were black.
Where they did end up eating — because Smith demanded it.
“My dad told us he did everything so that we could do what he couldn’t,” Simone said.
In September, Shaun was recognized by a former Tar Heel — an instance as familiar as the words that followed.
“You look just like your dad,” Vince Carter told him.
Shaun, a lanky 6-foot-4 guard, can appreciate being told he looks like his father. And that he will never have to experience what that meant for his father in the ’60s.
“Now I appreciate what he’s been through,” Shaun said. “What I don’t have to go through.”
Creating his own path
Announcements in the living room didn’t always run smoothly. If Charlie Scott made a key omission, he was promptly corrected. “Shaun would always be like, ‘From the University of North Carolina,’” his mother said. Now he is playing on the court he used to envision in his living room, fireplace replaced by a sideline.
With one more year of eligibility on the J.V. squad, Shaun hopes to try out for varsity his junior year. He is averaging 6.1 points a game but showing vast improvement, said J.V. coach Jerod Haase. On the court, Charlie Scott said Shaun’s jump shot, speed and physique give his pedigree away.
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But Shaun doesn’t.
“He does not try to use his name for anything,” Haase said. “He’s using his own credentials to earn things.”
Shaun admitted he doesn’t tell many people who his father is. That’s because he doesn’t want to carry that banner. He just wants to make the man who has one proud.
“He has a legacy he is proud of,” his father said. “He feels a responsibility to live up to the expectations of the legacy, what people believe his father was about.”
Shaun understands that a legacy isn’t just composed of numbers. Sometimes that’s the easy part.
“I want to graduate on time, have very good grades and see where I’m headed in life,” Shaun said. “Leave college prepared for the real world.”
Still, he continues to work hard, hoping to hear his name called.
After all, he has been waiting since he was 3 years old.
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
